Improvement in hanging circular saws



P.. HAMILTON. Hanging Circular Saw.

No. 196,893. Patented Nov 6,1877.

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ITEI) STATES PATENT OF roE.

FRANK HAMILTON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENTYIN HANGING CIRCULAR sAws.

Specification forming par'tof Letters Patent No. 19(,S93, dated November 6, 1877 'application filed August 9,1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK HAMILTON, of the city of Washington, in the District of O0- lumbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sawing-Machines, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawing, in whicha s Figure. I is a plan View of my sawing-machine when cutting horizontally. Fig; II is a plan view of the connecting-joint,hereinafter mentioned, when the saw-blade is vertical and cutting at an angle of forty-five degrees to the direction of the handling-sleeve. sectional view of the connecting-joint when in the same position as in Fig. 1, except that the managed.

In the drawings, A is the saw-blade; a, a short rigid shaft fastened to it and resting on bearings in the short sleeveB b, a short flexible shaft joined at one end to shaft a, and at the other to a longer rigid shaft, 0, which rests upon bearings in the handling-sleeve O, to which the short sleeve B is hinged, being held a in position, as hereinafter described, by means of the lever 61. The shaft 0 is connected to the driving-power by means of a flexible shaft, made of a coil or-coils of wire, revolving within the flexible covering D, this flexible shaft being directly attached to the driving-pulley E.

The coils of this shaft may be wound upon each other in opposite directions, the thickness of wire increasing with the number of coils, which is graded to suit the amount of power required.

The hand-crank e merely illustrates a mode of causing the shaft to revolve; but in general practice the pulley would be employed as a- Fig. III is a The ends of all the coils are i then brazed together, forming a single shaft.

means of imparting greater velocity to the saw. s

The pulley-shaft may revolve in a bearing, f, supported on legs g, or in any other convenient manner.

The connectingjoint, by which the sleeve B is attached to the sleeveO, and held-firmly in any desired position, is made as follows: The

adjacent ends of the sleeves B and C are par- 7 tially cut away, as shown in Fig. I, to allow room for the flexible shaft 11 to work when at right angles, and the remaining sides of each cut-away part are flattened and pivoted or.

hinged to the corresponding sides of the opposite sleeve, one of the pivots being fast to sleeve B and working freely in sleeve 0, and having theilever d pivoted to it. of this lever is a pin which fits intoany one of a series of holes, 1', in sleeve 0, arranged in the form of a semicircle around the pivot, and

also into a hole in sleeve B directly back of the pivot. Near the other end of the lever is a spring which holds the pin inplace.

Instead of the ends of the sleeves B and 0 being cut away to form the joint, ends prop- 2 erly cast or constructed may be welded or otherwise attached to the sleeves for this purpose.

The saw is revolved by. means of the direct communication between the saw-blade and the driving pulley above mentioned, consisting of the flexible and straight shafts. It is supported by the shaft a resting on bearings in the sleeve B, and having collars each side the bearings, so as to support the saw-blade when horizontal, the sleeve B being hinged to the sleeve O,

which is held in the hands of the operator. .4

Handles are fitted to the sleeve 0 at convenient places, in actual practice, for its better management. I 1

i The saw is operated in any direction from the driving-power (and at any distance, dependent upon the length of the flexible shaft). by simply shifting the end of the long flexible shaft to which the saw is attached to any desired point, the driving-power remaining stationary.

The saw is made to cut horizontally,"verti- I cally, or at any intermediate angle by merely turning the sleeve 0 around the shaft a.

sleeve, even when the sleeve B is at a right an- On one end' This gle to it, cambe revolved around the shaft an indefinite number of times without obstruct ing the working of 'the saw. The relative direction of the saw-blade to the sleeve (3 is changed by pressing down the lever d, which withdraws. the pin thatholds the saw in position, and turning thelever till the pin is directly back of the required hole in the sleeve 0, and thenletting go. The lever being connected to the sleeve B, as heretofore described, it forms a lever by which" the saw is turned and the straighteningtendency of the flexible shaft bcontrolled. There may be two of these levers on directly-opposite sides of the sleeve 0, if desired, for additional firmness. Thisiconnecting-joint may be replaced by right-angle gearing, if desired.

It is obvious that the long flexible shaft may run through the long sleeve 0, and connect directly with shaft a, if desired, thus doing away with the shaft 0; and also that any other flexible shaft may be used instead of coils of wire, as a series of straight shafts, connected by universal joints or short flexible shafts, or both. 1

There will, in practice, be a fender on two sides of the sleeve 0, to prevent any accident from personal contact with the side of the saw-blade nearest the operator; also, guiderollers each side of the saw-blade, attached to a metal frame,-which frame will be attached to sleeve B if the connecting joint "above described is Used, and to sleeve G, or to both sleeves, if rightanglegear is employed.

To avoid superfluous friction in the short flexible shaft b, whenat right angles, the coils may be made of heavier wires than otherwise needed, and wider spaces be left between the turns in each coil.

By proper connections, a straight instead of a a circular saw may be operated by the flexible shaftybut I reserve this for a future application. V

My invention is especially applicable for felling standing trees, a small portable engine being used as the motive power; fortrimmin g such trees before or after they are felled; converting waste slabs to kindling wood; sawing cord-wood in the pile, without the need of handling each log separately or conveying it to the saw; sawing or trimming timber in dan-' gerous or intricate positions, and from a secure place; cutting growing trees or underbrush near the ground; clearing land; trimming trees at high elevations, while the operator is upon the ground or upon the opposite side of the tree, 'away'from danger of the falling severed limbs; sawing bevel segments of circles, by having the sleeve 0 of sufiicient length and resting upon a pivot or center, and the saw-blade-tnrned to the desired inclination, and thus cutting the bevel at same time, and by the same act of cutting the are. In short,

the uses to which it may be applied, and the novel results and advantages incident to my invention, are manifold, and willbe manifest to persons experienced in flexible drivingshafts, or in the cutting and sawing of woods,

It'will be obvious that the devices specified and shown for operating and changing the position of the saw maybe employed to operate instruments or tools other than saws.

" What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl v a 1. A tree-feller and sawing-machine composed of a circular saw, a sleeve or handle for supporting and for changing the positionof i the saw, and a flexible shaftfor operating the saw, substantially as set forth. i

- 2. The combination, substantially as scribed, of a flexible shaft, a sleeve or handle free to revolve around said shaft; and a sleeve adapted to support a tool-holder. 1

3.-The combination, substantiallyuaslde i scribed, of a flexible shaft, a short rigid adjustable shaft, a, operated thereby, and adapted to carry a sawor other instrument, and alocking device adapted to hold such rigid shaft to its adjusted position. v i j 4. The combination, substantially. as described, of a circular saw, a flexible. shaft for driving the same, and a revoluble tubular handle or sleeve for shifting the position of the saw.

5. The combination, substantially as described, of a circular saw, a flexible shaft, and a sleeve having a joint for changing the position of the tool-supporting sleeve relative.

to theihandle.

6. The combination, substantiallyj as described, of a circular .saw, a1 flexible shaft, a joint for changing the position of the saw-supporting sleeve, and a handle for shifting the position of the.'saw.

7. The combination of the shafta, short flexible shaft 1), shaft 0, and sleeves B and O,

substantially as shown.

8. The combination, with a flexible shaft, of the sleeves B and O and lockinglever d, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with a flexibledrivin g shaft, of a non-flexible shaft connected thereto, a sleeve surrounding the fsame,anda short. flexible shaft connecting the non-flexible shaft with the tool Ortool-stocli, substantially as; t

and for the purposes set forth.

10; As a means forchangmg the positionj of the tool-holder, the, connecting r joint be tween the parts 0 and B, the spring-lever d,

and the series of holes 1', substantially as shown and described. v a i y FRANK HAMILTON. Witnesses: e

JOHN J. HALSTED,

PENN HALSTED. 

